President Trump’s lawyers want to depose Rupert Murdoch, and quickly.
The president’s attorneys in a new court filing Monday said they wish to speak with the conservative media mogul as part of evidence-gathering efforts in connection with Trump’s lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal.
“Murdoch is 94 years old, has suffered from multiple health issues throughout his life, is believed to have suffered recent significant health scares, and is presumed to live in New York,” Trump’s lawyers wrote as part of the filing asking a judge to order the billionaire be deposed.
Trump sued the Journal and Murdoch earlier this month over its reporting on the president’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump, who has denied any connection to Epstein’s crimes, has said publicly he appealed directly to Murdoch, the founder and longtime top executive of Fox and News Corp., trying to stop publication of the Journal’s stories regarding Epstein.
The president’s legal team argued in the filing that he spoke with Murdoch ahead of the article’s publication, and the media mogul told Trump he would “take care of it.”
The White House last week banned the Journal from traveling with Trump to Scotland this week, a move that angered the White House Correspondents’ Association and other press freedom groups.
The judge in the case ruled Murdoch’s lawyers have until Aug. 4 to respond to the Trump team’s request.
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